Dozens of homeless people who have been living in a national forest in central Oregon for years were being evicted Thursday by the US Forest Service, as it closed the area for a wildfire prevention project that will involve removing smaller trees,

Federal forest officials began clearing thousands of acres of forest just outside of Bend, Ore., where more than 100 people live in RVs and cars — a move that one advocacy group called “the largest eviction of a homeless camp in recent history.”

The closure at Deschutes National Forest was for a fire-prevention project, but advocates worry the displaced will have nowhere to go.